Silent Signs of Science<\/em><\/h4>\nTHE sun is 1,300,000 times the size of our earth, and 149,600,000\u00a0kilometres distant from it. Despite this enormous distance, light\u00a0and heat from the sun reach us in considerable quantity. By\u00a0cosmic standards, the sun is a relatively small star; it appears large to\u00a0us because of its proximity.<\/p>\n
Most stars are both larger and more radiant than the sun. Vast globes\u00a0of heat and light, they are scattered throughout the universe. They\u00a0have been shining for billions of years, but their reserves of thermal\u00a0energy show no signs of exhaustion. How do stars produce such\u00a0vast quantities of energy? The astrophysicist Hans Bethe spent years\u00a0exploring this question. Finally he discovered that the secret lies in the\u00a0CNO cycle (carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle). His research in this field\u00a0won him the Nobel Prize for physics in 1967.<\/p>\n
The day that Hans Bethe made this great discovery was one of great joy for him. His wife, Rose, says that she was with her husband in the New\u00a0Mexico desert when it happened. It was night, and the stars shone with\u00a0immense lustre on the vast, open desert. She looked up with wonder\u00a0at the sky. \u201cGosh,\u201d she exclaimed, \u201chow brightly the stars shine!\u201d Her\u00a0husband replied: \u201cDo you realise, just now you are standing next to the\u00a0only human being who knows why they shine\u00a0at all?\u201d.<\/p>\n
\nNature may appear silent but it speaks about<\/strong>
its creator, God, for those who wish to hear.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nHans Bethe\u2019s discovery answered a very small part of the real question; it did not reach the crux. His discovery of the CNO cycle leaves a greater question unanswered: how does this CNO cycle operate in stars?<\/p>\n
A true believer finds the answer to this\u00a0question in the form of God, the Maker \u00a0and Sustainer of the universe. It is God who has invested the stars \u00a0with this magic property. Another fascinating fact is the enormous \u00a0synchronisation and harmonious existence of countless moving stars \u00a0and planets that remain in their orbits without striking one another\u2014\u00a0doesn\u2019t this awesome fact point to the existence of a rational being\u00a0behind it?<\/p>\n
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It is ironical that a small discovery should make a scientist lose himself\u00a0in a spontaneous outburst of feeling, while the far greater discovery \u00a0that a believer makes\u2014that of God\u2014should create in him no such feeling. Those who really believe in God feel the joy of their discovery.\u00a0Their joy is beyond expression, it is so overwhelming. If there are no\u00a0traces of the joy of discovery, then the discovery itself has yet to be\u00a0made. Nature may appear silent but it speaks about its creator, God,\u00a0for those who wish to hear. o<\/p>\n
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Contact with God<\/strong><\/em>
Every observation and learning can serve as a\u00a0<\/i>
point of reference to establish contact with God\u00a0<\/i>
instantly and seek His blessings.<\/i><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_accordion_item][et_pb_accordion_item title=”POSITIVE ASPECT OF ILLNESS” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Convert Your Loss into Gain<\/em><\/p>\nAPRAYER of Prophet Abraham in the Quran says \u2018He who cures\u00a0me when I am ill.\u2019 (26: 80). This is no simple prayer, It refers to a\u00a0great piece of wisdom learnt through the experience of illness.<\/p>\n
It is common for people to fall sick and regain their health. The law\u00a0of recovery is quite significant. When the branch of a tree is cut, very soon a new branch grows. While a tree does not consciously realise this\u00a0phenomenon, man can consciously discover this by applying his mind.<\/p>\n
To fully realise the significance of this law, the Creator has made\u00a0illness a personal experience. Recovering from illness is common for\u00a0everyone. To realise this law through recovery from disease or ailment makes it a personal experience.<\/p>\n
One experiences losses of different kinds\u2014physical, economic and political. Recuperating\u00a0after a period of illness, one should not\u00a0despair looking at the losses. Just re-planactivities and try to convert loss into gain.<\/p>\n
\nIllness will prompt one to think deeply, a blessing in<\/strong>
disguise.One will thus discover the meaning of life,<\/strong>
remember God Almighty and pray for entry to Paradise.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThis attitude makes a person to be complaint-free. Since it is possible to transform loss into gain, one should be ever grateful and never complain. Not falling prey to negativity and remaining positive is of utmost importance.<\/p>\n
A prophetic tradition also refers to illness. The Prophet once visited a\u00a0sick man. On seeing him, the Prophet said \u2018Don\u2019t worry, God willing, it\u00a0will be a source of purification.\u2019 (Bukhari)<\/p>\n
This indicates that illness is merely not a problem. There is a positive\u00a0aspect of illness; it makes the person reflect. Illness will prompt one\u00a0to think deeply\u2014a blessing in disguise. One will thus discover the\u00a0meaning of life, remember God Almighty and pray for entry to Paradise.This will purify the soul, and will lead to the emergence of a new human\u00a0being. o<\/p>\n
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No one puts out other people\u2019s lamp.<\/p>\n
It is the lack of oil which puts them out.<\/p>\n
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The Age of Peace<\/em><\/h4>\nIN August\/September 2015, we members of the Centre for Peace and\u00a0Spirituality went on a two-week trip to the USA at the invitation of\u00a0the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) to attend its convention\u00a0in Chicago. Besides Chicago, we visited Washington DC, Pennsylvania,\u00a0and New York.<\/p>\n
With God\u2019s grace, I got to speak at different venues and to meet people\u00a0from different walks of life and backgrounds. At the ISNA convention,\u00a0I stressed upon one point in particular: that today we are living in the\u00a0\u2018Age of Peace\u2019. The Age of Peace is the title of my latest book, released\u00a0during this trip at the ISNA convention as well as at the United States\u00a0Institute of Peace, a centre set up by the US Congress to promote\u00a0peaceful methods of conflict-resolution.<\/p>\n
I cited a Hadith (words of the Prophet), full of wisdom, in relation to\u00a0the age of peace that we are living in today. The Prophet is reported to\u00a0have said: wise is he who understands the age in which he lives.<\/p>\n
\nWise is he who understands the age in which he lives.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nThis Hadith reflects the importance of something crucial\u2014the need for wise planning. A solid understanding and appreciation of the conditions of the times can aid in wise planning. It is about availing the opportunities afforded by the age in which we live. If we have no idea about the conditions of our times, we will lose out badly.<\/p>\n
In my address at the ISNA convention,I stressed that one special characteristic of our contemporary age is\u00a0freedom; the kind the world never enjoyed before. A major reason was\u00a0that in earlier ages much of the world was under monarchy, with only\u00a0the monarch enjoying total freedom. But today we live in an age of\u00a0democracy where each individual has the inalienable right to be free.\u00a0When the Prophet was in Makkah, the early Muslims were prevented\u00a0from praying at the Kabah. Today there is no such restriction. You\u2014Muslims and everyone else\u2014can pray anywhere in the world and none\u00a0can stop you. Isn\u2019t that amazing! The Prophet and his Companions\u00a0faced opposition when they wanted to worship at the Kabah, and today\u00a0Muslims are free to build mosques in every country and worship there.\u00a0This is the freedom that we now enjoy.<\/p>\n
If we want to understand today\u2019s age as per the message of the Hadith,\u00a0we need to keep in mind the basic feature of this age\u2014freedom. And\u00a0what is freedom? Basically, it is the power to choose\u2014to avail and make\u00a0use of opportunities. This is an age of opportunities.<\/p>\n
Wise planning involves recognising these myriad opportunities in\u00a0various fields\u2014business, social work, education and inviting people to\u00a0God\u2014and using the freedom we have been blessed with, to avail of\u00a0these opportunities. There is but one restriction\u2014one may not harm or\u00a0trouble anyone else. As long as one does not harm others, there will be\u00a0no obstacle to avail the many opportunities that abound today.<\/p>\n
\nA solid understanding and appreciation of the<\/strong>
conditions of the times can aid inwise planning.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nLet me cite a story to illustrate this point. When America won independence from Britain, an American man, overjoyed at the news, stepped out into the streets to celebrate. In his joy, he waved his hands about, and by mistake, struck a passer-by on the nose. The angry passer-by asked him why he had hit him. The man said \u201cWe\u2019ve won freedom, and I\u2019m now free! I was exercising my freedom!\u201d The second man replied,\u201cYes, you are free, but your freedom ends where my nose begins!\u201d<\/p>\n
In my address, I related this story and talked of 9\/11, the destruction of\u00a0the twin towers in New York. This crime was like hitting the \u2018industrial\u00a0nose\u2019 of America, and totally unacceptable. You cannot avail of existing\u00a0opportunities by abusing freedom\u2014hurt, damage and kill others. You\u00a0will have to ensure you don\u2019t hit other people\u2019s \u2018noses\u2019 if you are to\u00a0enjoy the freedom to avail the many opportunities that have opened up.If you want progress, you will have to stop violence, suicide-bombing,\u00a0gun-culture and the bomb-culture.<\/p>\n
The peaceful functioning of the ISNA validates this point. They are\u00a0doing work in the field of social service. They have established a \u2018social\u00a0empire\u2019, as it were, in America. And why and how has it been able to\u00a0do so? Surely not by hitting anyone else\u2019s \u2018nose\u2019. Without resorting\u00a0to violence it has achieved so much in the field of social service. This\u00a0reflects the wisdom referred to in the Hadith\u2014the need to understand\u00a0the age in which one lives and the demands of that age.<\/p>\n
The 10,000 odd audience was quick to appreciate this point. We\u00a0distributed peace-related literature among them, including my latest\u00a0books, The Age of Peace and Quranic Wisdom.<\/p>\n
Close to the Chicago airport, Muslims of Turkish origin have established\u00a0a large institution\u2014the Turkish-American Society (TAS). It is associated\u00a0with the well-known Turkish Muslim scholar, Ustad Fethullah Gulen.\u00a0Our visit to the centre was a great experience. Interacting with the\u00a0people at the centre, I commented on the remarkable movement led\u00a0by Ustad Gulen that had spawned an \u2018educational empire\u2019\u2014hundreds\u00a0of high-quality schools across the world, in more than a hundred\u00a0countries! I also remarked that the Turks had established the Ottoman\u00a0Caliphate that lasted for a long time but conditions in the wake of\u00a0the First World War led to its collapse. The Turkish nationalist leader\u00a0Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is credited with single-handedly destroying it.\u00a0Having studied the issue, I believe that the Ottoman Caliphate ended\u00a0not by the actions of any single individual. Rather, it was the demand of\u00a0the times, the requirement of the age that this should happen.<\/p>\n
\nIf earlier people tried to establish political empires,<\/strong>
often at a very heavy cost, today we can establish<\/strong>
non-political \u2018empires\u2019 where the sky is the limit!<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nHow and why do I say this? By the early 20th century, political empires across the world were fast crumbling. Earlier it had been possible to establish political empires and that\u2019s how there was the British empire, the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Roman Empire. Keeping with the changing conditions and demands of the times, Ustad Gulen had clearly focused his attention on non-political work\u2014on promoting education. He caught hold of the root, as it were, education being an issue of the utmost importance. He helped set up a large number of quality schools across countries. Interestingly, he did not talk about establishing universities. Nothing happens through universities unless the schools that feed the universities are good. You need good schools that provide quality education and moral training. And that\u2019s what Ustad Gulen stressed on.<\/p>\n
As I reflect on Mustafa Kemal Ataturk\u2019s declaration abolishing the Ottoman Caliphate, I realise this was not an individual\u2019s announcement. Mustafa Kemal articulated the voice of the new age, telling us that the age of political empires was out for good.<\/p>\n
The early 20th century witnessed the end of political empires. Mustafa Kemal laid the foundation by introducing democracy and later Ustad Gulen built a rugged education system on this base. Ustad Gulen has shown that opportunities to progress will still remain\u2014in the non- political sphere. In fact, we have more opportunities than before! If earlier people tried to establish political empires, often at a very heavy cost, today we can establish non-political \u2018empires\u2019 where the sky is the limit! we can establish them all across the world! we need no army or war for that.<\/p>\n
It is amazing that the Turks had established a vast political empire which ended in the early 20th century and then set about establishing a non- political educational \u2018empire\u2019! God selected them to tell the world not to lament the passing of an age, but recognize the new opportunities and adapt to it.<\/p>\n
The ISNA has established a \u2018social service empire\u2019 in America and Ustad Gulen an \u2018educational empire\u2019\u2014all using peaceful means. I told people I met in America that we at the Centre for Peace and Spirituality are trying to establish a \u2018dawah empire\u2019, calling all people across the world to God. Given the immense opportunities, this empire\u2019 is surely possible today.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Muslims must reflect deeply on the Hadith referred to above and understand its contemporary relevance and deep wisdom. From this Hadith I understand that though times may change, opportunities never cease. The passing of one age doesn\u2019t mean all is lost. Instead, understand the conditions and demands of the new age, discover the opportunities and adapt.<\/p>\n
\nThe Quran is the basis of our mission. We have published
translations of the Quran in several languages. We have
brought out supportive literature to help people interpret
the Quran to suit our contemporary times.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe are truly blessed with the freedom to work in a vast range of spheres. We are free to establish a \u2018social service empire\u2019, an \u2018educational empire\u2019, a \u2018dawah empire\u2019, all in the non-political fields. If we truly understand and appreciate the significance of this, we will not fall prey to despair or waste time in protest and complaint. Resorting to violence will lead to destruction of oneself and others in suicide-bombing, the gun-culture and the bomb-culture. It is futile because opportunities to progress are abundant, and there is freedom to avail them. In my interactions in America, I repeatedly stressed this point.<\/p>\n
One morning, I thought to myself, \u201cWhile in America, my friends and I travelled more than 30,000 kilometres in just 15 days, doing dawah work!\u201d What a blessing it is to visit so many distant places in such a short time! This is what I call a \u2018dawah empire\u2019\u2014not based in some fort or castle. It is peaceful effort. We met many people\u2014Christians, Muslims,Hindus and others, and engaged in conveying the message with them. There were no obstructions whatsoever. I was indeed touched! Here I was, an Indian coming to America and engaging in inviting people to God, and none stopped me; truly amazing! Compare this with the times of the Prophet Muhammad and other prophets. They faced stiff opposition to their work. One can engage in such work without any opposition, the only condition being to be free from hate and complaint against anyone. The origin of every evil is complaint. Complaint leads to hate; hate leads to enmity; and enmity leads to violence, to war, to suicide-bombing, to the gun-culture and the bomb-culture. And the result is destruction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0The Quran is the basis of our mission. We have published translations of the Quran in several languages. We have brought out supportive literature to help people interpret the Quran to suit our contemporary times. Our recent book The Age of Peace, must be made available to many more people. Learning through reading is a Quranic principle.<\/p>\n
\nThe origin of every evil is complaint. Complaint leads to<\/strong>
hate; hate leads to enmity; and enmity leads to violence.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nIn the Quran, God says: \u2018Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One who taught by the pen\u2019 (96: 3-4). Earlier people wrote by hand, and that took much time and effort. As a student in the madrasa, I copied an entire Arabic course book by hand! Today the printing press and the Internet can produce and disseminate books at the touch of a button, and on a massive scale. No matter what your background or educational qualifications, you can devote yourself fully to dawah work. This is such a mobile age! People are constantly moving and you interact with many people every day. Keep the peace literature with you and distribute it to people you meet, an easy way to do this work. We should be grateful to God for all these blessings.<\/p>\n
Wherever I travel, including our recent trip to America, I see people searching for a message that addresses their minds, their innate nature, their spirituality\u2014a message that has nothing to do with political wrangling and conflict, and free of hate. Only God can satisfy this inner thirst. And that indicates the importance of inviting people to God.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 20th century witnessed several \u2018social movements\u2019. But all of them somewhere got stuck in politics. And where politics appears, protest, complaint and hate inevitably raise their ugly heads. These traits are not innate to human beings as God\u2019s creation. Rather, they are fomented by ambitious, power-hungry leaders.<\/p>\n
\nUnderstand the conditions and demands of the new<\/strong>
age, discover the opportunities and adapt.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nToday people are thirsty for peace, spirituality, positivity. An entire century went by filled with political hate talk. People want an end to such politics, hate and violence. They are looking for what their innate nature wants. I see this everywhere. If the 20th century was an age of hate, politics and confrontation, our age is\u2014or can be\u2014truly \u2018The Age of Peace\u2019. o<\/p>\n
Tolerance<\/strong><\/em>
In routine matters, where there is none of the\u00a0<\/i>
stress and strain of opposition, no one has\u00a0<\/i>
difficulty in being tolerant. It is in situations\u00a0<\/i>
fraught with conflict, that the truly tolerant man\u00a0<\/i>
will prove his mettle.<\/i>\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
High Thinker<\/i><\/strong>
A high thinker cannot waste his time in clashes<\/i>
and confrontations. He will set his journey beyond\u00a0<\/i>
all these. Nothing has the power to stop the\u00a0<\/i>
journey of a high thinker.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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